After watching Robben absolutely torture the Czechs today, perhaps an apology or two to Frankie is in order.......
Re: Hedjuk vs Robben Dude! I was thinking the exact same thing. Hell, the same dutch only put one on us a couple of months ago!
Robben will cause many a back nightmares, and he will probably even get better which is a scary thought. I wish he was a nat. Frankie cannot cover him and was lucky he was only burned the one time.
I like Bobby, but he's not as good as Robben. Robben can do everything Convey can do only better and he has size. Convey may be better on D.
I agree. I like Bobby and he is going to be a very good nat. However, Robben has phenomal speed and quickness! No contest. I would rather have Robben on my side than Convey.
I agree with the two of you, but that opinion a couple of months ago was a minority opinion around here, insane, isn't it?
I watched the match here in Ireland yesterday and Robben is being compared to Damien Duff, who (FWIW) I think is the best winger in the Premiership. Convey is nowhere close to either of them, and won't be unless he gets himself in a more competitive environment where he is forced to add more elements to his game. This is what Duff did. Four years ago, when he was Convey's age, he was a raw talent admired mostly for his one-on-one dribbling. Each year he added something to his game and brought it up to the level of his dribbling - crossing early, crossing from deep, cutting in on his right, shooting, shooting with his weaker foot, switching wings, playing beneath the forwards, crashing the box for far post crosses, bursting out of midfield with the ball to pull the defense out of shape. Convey just doesn't have that toolbox yet, at least not from what I saw in the Youth WC, good as he was in that tournament. I can't imagine someone with Convey's recognised potential is going to derive much more benefit from being in MLS. After all, he's not some guy who has maxed out his talent like Hejduk has.
For all of the BS folks who say -- "Hey, we need more skill..."...well when you face up with a Robben, you don't need skill... you need SPEEEEEEDDDD!!! Frankie may be the fastest defender we have over 45 yards -- and maybe faster than a lot of 1st division defenders in Europe -- and HE couldn't keep up with him. This, of course, can be a problem. But there's not a whole lot you can do about it.
You may be right that many who post here didn't know who he was... However, those people on here that actually follow soccer and know there is more to life than Donovan and that Convey isn't actually the 2nd best player in the world knew full well who Robben was. This guy has been phenomenal for quite a while and definitely was known to people who follow the game abroad.
well, this is the USA soccer board so that is not surprise. Seriously, I can't ever remember a debate that Convey was one of the best in the world- who ever said that? However most feel he is one of the best we have.
I also can't remember anyone saying that Convey is better than Robben. That said I'd much rather have Christiano Ronaldo than Robben if I was going to pick a winger. He's isn't neccasarily better but he is right footed. While Beas and Convey won't ever be as good as Robben they are both very good in their own rights. We ain't got squat on the right
i was trying to find out where that game was played, abc, espn2,espn, fsw it wasn't played on those channels !...i can't believe it, i thought we're the soccer nation now ! ...
Huh? If Heydude is relatively fast, the he DID lack the skill to complement his slightly above/blazing/decent (pick your adjective) speed and know how to stop the kid (Robben) Who did you want out there, Carl Lewis?....The fact that you are dismissing skill out of the equation for the sake of speed seems to me a bit short-sighted
Perhaps. But then I don't think there's any argument that Robben's one of the fastest players in international soccer. Yes, he has considerable skills, but it's his speed that makes him really dangerous.
You dopes are overestimating importance of speed. The Danes have a forward who posts 100M times at Olympic medal levels. And is certainly the fastest player at Euro04. Yet, he's somehow not on any top clubs' A-list. It's pretty simple, but top players need all of the following, but in this order: 1. skill 2. skill 3. skill 4. quickness 5. speed 6. vision Speed won't help you score a goal like Ibrahimovic or Van Nistlrooy. It's amazing how this is still a mystery to you guys. Surf a board where people who've played the game post, like Xtratime.
I think Frankie does have the speed to keep up with Robben. I really do. But when Robben was gliding by him, all he needed to do was stick his leg across Robben's path and down he goes. Nothing hard about it, he just didn't do it. It was a friendly, and Hejduk was out of season, so no big harm. Today Frankie made a couple of excellent tackles and broke up a dangerous scoring attack. All is forgiven.
Look, beleive me, I am not dismissing skill out of hand. If I conveyed that, then that was a mistake. Nor am I saying, as some might think, that all Robben is some sort of converted track star. He is not, most assuredly. My point is this: against some players, like Robben, skill is simply not enough. Skill won't save you...dribbling skills, a great first touch, and the ability to dance with ball won't mean squat. If you can't keep up with him, it doesn't matter HOW skillful you are. Better bring your pampers.